According to their official website, The Apollo Theater will begin celebrating its 75th Anniversary of Amateur Night with a performance by Harlem’s own Ron Browz on Wed, January 28th. The first 75 tickets are being sold for $7.50 to commemorate the event.
The Apollo Theater was built in 1914 on 125th Street, the heart of Harlem. Originally, it was named Hurtig and Seamon’s New Burlesque Theatre and African-Americans were not allowed in the audience. In 1934 Ralph Cooper, Sr. decided to do a live version of his already popular radio show, Amateur Nite Hour at the ApolloTM, at the Apollo Theater, then owned by the Schiffman family. Ella Fitzgerald, who invented the vocal technique known as “SCAT”, was one of the first Amateur Night winners.
Since then the legendary venue has launched the careers of icons such as Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, the late James Brown and Lauryn Hill and continues to maintain its position as the nation’s most popular arena for emerging and established African-American and Latino performers.
In 1991 DJ Kid Capri recorded a tribute track called “The Apollo” for his debut album The Tape:
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